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Lubricant-like Substance Eyed In Alpine Fire

November 15, 2000|By From Tribune News Services.

KAPRUN, AUSTRIA — An Austrian investigator said Tuesday that a substance similar to a lubricant had been found on the tracks of the cable car that burst into a fierce fire on Saturday, killing more than 150 people.

The finding offered the first clue about a possible cause of the fire.

Investigators have been studying the site alongside Austrian soldiers who by Tuesday evening had removed 128 victims from the 2 1/2-mile tunnel where they died. A local government official said the task of extricating the bodies, all burned beyond recognition, would probably be completed on Wednesday.

Christian Tisch, director of a team of police technicians, told reporters that initial evidence indicated that a fire might have started shortly after the cable car left a base station and before it entered the Alpine tunnel and that "there may have been a defect on the vehicle which could be related to the fire."

Tisch said a "synthetic substance, similar to a lubricant," had been found on the tracks and was being analyzed.

He said the investigators would be trying to determine the source of the substance, whether it was flammable, and whether it could have come in contact with parts of the cable car that become heated when operating, thus causing a fire to erupt.